Union City Radio

More than two dozen housekeeping and dietary workers at Arcola Health and Rehabilitation Center voted last month to join 1199SEIU. “I have worked at Arcola as a laundry aide for over 18 years,” said Vicki Watson. “For the past five years we have had no pay raises, health insurance or benefits whatsoever. Retirement is on my mind. I have put too much into this company to walk out with no retirement package and be homeless.” Over 900 workers have voted to join 1199SEIU so far in 2015, with caregivers from the Maryland/DC area to Upstate New York affirming the need for affordable healthcare, better pay and a voice in patient care.There are still a few openings for volunteers at the 2015 DC LaborFest, which launches this Friday, May 1. Volunteers get a LaborFest t-shirt and free Labor FilmFest passes. The 2015 DC LaborFest runs May 1-31 and has more than 50 exciting events scheduled, including the 15th annual DC Labor FilmFest, plus labor art, music, book, history and even soccer events. Go to dclabor.org and click on LaborFest to sign up.On today's labor calendar, the Good Jobs for All Campaign Launch with Senator Elizabeth Warren starts at 8am at the Carnegie Library; go to dclabor.org and click on calendar for complete details.In today's labor history, Coxey’s Army of 500 unemployed civil war veterans reached Washington, on this date in 1894; and in 1899, an estimated one thousand silver miners, angry over low wages, the firing of union members and the planting of spies in their ranks by mine-owners, seized a train, loaded it with 3,000 pounds of dynamite, and blew up the mill at the Bunker Hill mine in Wardner, Idaho. In 1943, the special representative of the National War Labor Board issued a report setting forth provisions for wage rates for women working in war industries who were demanding equal pay. Today's labor quote is by Beyoncé, who said:"We need to stop buying into the myth about gender equality. It isn’t a reality yet. Today, women make up half of the U.S. workforce, but the average working woman earns only 77 percent of what the average working man makes. But unless women and men both say this is unacceptable, things will not change. Men have to demand that their wives, daughters, mothers, and sisters earn more—commensurate with their qualifications and not their gen der. Equality will be achieved when men and women are granted equal pay and equal respect."

As the 2016 presidential battle begins to roll down the campaign trail toward Election Day 18 months from now, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka on Tuesday challenged candidates to take a stand for the nation’s working people. Noting the skepticism and cynicism many voters feel, Trumka said that nearly two generations of national leaders have either “taken steps that worsened inequality or fiddled around the edges, trying to raise wages in an economy fundamentally built to lower wages.” In a speech from the AFL-CIO headquarters in downtown Washington, Trumka said that “The labor movement's doors are open to any candidate who is serious about transforming our economy with high and rising wages.” Read more and check out a video of the speech at dclabor.orgOn today's labor calendar; the AFL-CIO will host an International Workers Day Kick-Off this afternoon at 2pm focused on the “Stop Bad Trade Deals” theme. The program includes music from Son Cosita Seria, videos and snacks. And tonight at 7p check out the Town Hall on Immigration Reform at Bell Multicultural High School; Go to dclabor.org and click on calendar for complete details.In today's labor history, an explosion on this date in 1927 at the Everettville mine in Everettville, West Virginia killed 109 miners, many of whom lie in unmarked graves to this day. In 2012, the Obama administration’s National Labor Relations Board implemented new rules to speed up unionization elections. The new rules are largely seen as a counter to employer manipulation of the law to prevent workers from unionizing.Today's labor quote is by Cecil Roberts, president of the United Mine Workers of America, responding last year to the coal mine explosion and fire in Turkey, which killed more than 300 miners in that country’s worst-ever mine disaster: “The magnitude of this tragedy is appalling. I see where the media is calling this an industrial ‘accident,’ but a disaster on this scale is no accident. This mine was clearly a bomb waiting to go off. It has been nearly a century since we have seen disasters on this scale in the United States or Canada. Through strong laws and regulations, we have been able to develop workplace protections that keep our miners safe from the kinds of conditions that must have existed in that Turkish mine. What we have done here isn’t magical. It can be and has been applied elsewhere in the world.”

Washington Post workers turned up the heat on Post owner Jeff Bezos last week in their battle for a fair contract. At lunchtime last Thursday, a group of about 25 staffers – members of the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild -- marched inside the Post's Washington, D.C., headquarters and upstairs to the publisher’s office to deliver a petition signed by nearly 500 Guild members and other Post employees. “The Post is not just a brand or a building," the petition said. "Keep your eyes focused here, on your loyal employees who work hard to uphold the great name and legacy of this outstanding news organization." Go to dclabor.org to see great photos. On today’s labor calendar, a photography exhibit by Earl Dotter opens at 2p this afternoon with a special memorial tribute to asbestos workers at the AFL-CIO; and tonight at 7, check out the Jazz Jam concert by members of the Metropolitan Washington DC Federation of Musicians at Guapo's Restaurant in Northwest DC. Go to dclabor.org and click on calendar for complete details.

In today’s Labor Quiz, what percentage of front-line fast food workers, and their dependents, receive some form of welfare assistance? Is it 12, 23, 47, or 52 percent? Go to unionist.com and click on Labor Quiz and you could be next week's winner!

Here's today's labor history: the first strike for the 10-hour day occurred on this date in 1825 when Boston carpenters walked off the job; and on this date in 1911, James Oppenheim’s poem “Bread and Roses” was published in the IWW newspaper Industrial Solidarity.

Today's labor quote is James Oppenheim’s poem, Bread and Roses: As we come marching, marching, in the beauty of the day,A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill-lofts grayAre touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,For the people hear us singing, "Bread and Roses, Bread and Roses."

As we come marching, marching, we battle, too, for men-- For they are women's children and we mother them again. Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes-- Hearts starve as well as bodies: Give us Bread, but give us Roses!

As we come marching, marching, unnumbered women dead Go crying through our singing their ancient song of Bread; Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew-- Yes, bread we fight for--but we fight for Roses, too.

As we come marching, marching, we bring the Greater Days-- The rising of the women means the rising of the race-- No more the drudge and idler--ten that toil where one reposes-- But sharing of life's glories: Bread and Roses, Bread and Roses!

Oppenheim wrote this poem to celebrate the movement for women’s rights and is closely associated with the 1912 Lawrence textile mill strike. During the strike, which was in protest of a reduction in pay, the women mill workers carried signs that quoted the poem, reading “We want bread, and roses, too”. Bread and Roses was set to music by Mimi Fariña in the 1970s, and has become an anthem for labor rights, and especially the rights of working women, in the United States and elsewhere.

Every year on April 28, the unions of the AFL-CIO observe Workers Memorial Day to remember those who have suffered and died on the job and to renew our efforts for safe workplaces. This year, the struggle continues to create good jobs in this country that are safe and healthy and pay fair wages and to ensure the freedom of workers to form unions and, through their unions, to speak out and bargain for respect and a better future. Here are a few facts about worker safety and health you should know in honor of Workers Memorial Day:

In 2013, more than 4,400 workers were killed on the job and more than 50,000 more died from occupational diseases.

OSHA has fewer than 900 inspectors, meaning they can inspect workplaces, on average, just once every 140 years.

There is no federal workplace standard (and few state standards) for workplace violence. Meanwhile there were more than 26,000 workplace injuries related to violence in 2013, including nearly 400 deaths. Women workers in health care and social assistance are most likely to face workplace violence. Go to dclabor.org for the complete list of 11 Things You Need to Know About Safety for Workers Memorial Day.

On today's labor calendar, NoVA Labor’s Stop Fast Track Phonebank continues starting at 10am and the Baltimore Labor Council’s 34th Annual Committee on Political Education Dinner will be held tonight starting at 7pm; Go to dclabor.org and click on calendar for complete details.In today's labor history, a coal mine collapsed in Eccles, West Virginia on this date in 1914, killing 181 workers; in 1924, a total of 119 died in the Benwood, West Virginia coal mine disaster; and in 1970, Congress created OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. In 1989, the AFL-CIO set April 28 as “Workers Memorial Day” to honor the hundreds of thousands of workers killed and injured on the job every year. On this date in 1993, the first “Take Our Daughters to Work Day” was held, promoted by the Ms. Foundation to boost self-esteem of girls with invitations to a parent’s workplace.Today's labor quote is by Mother Jones, who said:“Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living.”

More than two dozen housekeeping and dietary workers at Arcola Health and Rehabilitation Center voted last month to join 1199SEIU. “I have worked at Arcola as a laundry aide for over 18 years,” said Vicki Watson. “For the past five years we have had no pay raises, health insurance or benefits whatsoever. Retirement is on my mind. I have put too much into this company to walk out with no retirement package and be homeless.” Over 900 workers have voted to join 1199SEIU so far in 2015, with caregivers from the Maryland/DC area to Upstate New York affirming the need for affordable healthcare, better pay and a voice in patient care.There are still a few openings for volunteers at the 2015 DC LaborFest, which launches this Friday, May 1. Volunteers get a LaborFest t-shirt and free Labor FilmFest passes. The 2015 DC LaborFest runs May 1-31 and has more than 50 exciting events scheduled, including the 15th annual DC Labor FilmFest, plus labor art, music, book, history and even soccer events. Go to dclabor.org and click on LaborFest to sign up.On today's labor calendar, the Good Jobs for All Campaign Launch with Senator Elizabeth Warren starts at 8am at the Carnegie Library; go to dclabor.org and click on calendar for complete details.In today's labor history, Coxey’s Army of 500 unemployed civil war veterans reached Washington, on this date in 1894; and in 1899, an estimated one thousand silver miners, angry over low wages, the firing of union members and the planting of spies in their ranks by mine-owners, seized a train, loaded it with 3,000 pounds of dynamite, and blew up the mill at the Bunker Hill mine in Wardner, Idaho. In 1943, the special representative of the National War Labor Board issued a report setting forth provisions for wage rates for women working in war industries who were demanding equal pay. Today's labor quote is by Beyoncé, who said:"We need to stop buying into the myth about gender equality. It isn’t a reality yet. Today, women make up half of the U.S. workforce, but the average working woman earns only 77 percent of what the average working man makes. But unless women and men both say this is unacceptable, things will not change. Men have to demand that their wives, daughters, mothers, and sisters earn more—commensurate with their qualifications and not their gen der. Equality will be achieved when men and women are granted equal pay and equal respect."

More than a thousand activists marched and danced through DC streets Monday as they made their way from the AFL-CIO to the offices of the US Trade Representative, where police re-routed traffic as the demonstrators made clear their opposition to the Fast Track trade legislation now being rushed through Congress. The usual contingents of union members were joined by young activists in town for the Populism2015 conference, who led the way with spirited chants and raised fists. Populist Jim Hightower cut to the core of the issue when he said that “The only thing you need to know about Fast Track is that they don’t want you to know about it!” Monday’s rally followed another well-attended rally on Capitol Hill last week, and opposition has been building across the country. NOVA Labor phone-bankers made over 1,000 calls to Congress last Saturday, and the phonebank will be open in Annandale all week.Also on today's labor calendar, the DC Young Trade Unionists are holding an "after-summit" happy hour tonight at 6pm at Kelly's Irish Times, and there's a Just Hours Campaign Canvass starting at 6pm at the Archives Metro Station. Go to dclabor.org and click on calendar for complete details.In today's labor history, the Canadian Labour Congress was founded on this date in 1956 through a merger of the Trades and Labour Congress of Canada and the Canadian Congress of Labour, the two major union congresses in Canada at the time. The CLC represents the interests of more than three million affiliated workers. In 1980, Ida Mae Stull died; she was nationally recognized as the country’s first woman coal miner.And on this date in 1993, United Farm Workers of America founder Cesar Chavez died in San Luis, Arizona at the age of 66.Today's labor quote is by Cesar Chavez, who said: “The fight is never about grapes or lettuce. It is always about people.” Cesar Chavez, who also said that “You are never strong enough that you don't need help.”

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan is “very seriously” considering implementing furloughs of state employees, reports AFSCME Maryland. The Legislature adopted budget language which “fenced off” the funds for the 2 percent pay raise that all state and university workers began receiving in January, so Hogan can’t use the pay raise money for any other spending. But Hogan “can choose to simply not spend the money at all and state employee’s pay would be cut,” AFSCME Maryland warns.And in Montgomery County, officials are investigating allegations by employees at the Department of Economic Development that acting director Sally Sternbach has fostered a hostile work environment marked by “persistent inappropriate and intimidating behavior,” reported the Washington Post last week. The charges were contained in an April 6 letter to County Executive Isiah Leggett from Gino Renne, president of UFCW Local 1994, the Municipal and County Government Employees Organization, which represents about half of the 40 employees in the department.On today's labor calendar, NOVA Labor's Stop Fast Track Phonebank runs today and tomorrow starting at 10am in Annandale, VA and at 7:30 tonight there's a Stop Fast Track Town Hall at the Cedar Lane Unitarian Church in Bethesda; go to dclabor.org and click on calendar for complete details.In today's labor history, The International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union on this date in 1999 halted shipping on the West Coast in solidarity with Mumia Abu-Jamal, a Philadelphia journalist who many believed was on death row because he was an outspoken African-American. And in 2013, an eight-story building housing garment factories in Dhaka, Bangladesh collapsed, killing 1,129 workers and injuring 2,515. A day earlier cracks had been found in the structure, but factory officials, who had contracts with Benneton and other major U.S. labels, insisted the workers return to the job the next day.Today's labor quote is by Mumia Abu-Jamal, who said: "Politics is the art of making the people believe that they are in power, when in fact, they have none." Mumia Abu-Jamal, who also said: "When a cause comes along and you know in your bones that it is just, yet refuse to defend it -- at that moment you begin to die."

Bargaining between the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild and The Washington Post is “at a standstill,” reports the Guild. Even worse, publisher Fred Ryan, “in a strikingly tone-deaf email, crowed about the company's performance while announcing some staff reductions in commercial operations," says the Guild, which recently released a video in which Post workers express their frustration with the Post’s demands for cuts and takebacks. “Journalists don’t have an off-button, we don’t go home at the end of the day and stop being journalists,” says Post art critic Phillip Kennicott, “so it’s important for the new ownership of the Post to understand what a deep reservoir of value in its people it has.” Check out the Guild video on our website at dclabor.org.

On today’s labor calendar, Good Jobs Nation is holding a "Rally for Good Jobs" starting at 9:30am at Massachusetts and D St NE. The Stop Fast Track Phonebank continues at NoVA Labor this morning at 10am in Annandale, and then at 11am there’s a Homegoing Celebration at St. Stephens Baptist Church in Temple Hills for Rolene McKnight, the Metro Washington Council’s former receptionist. Go to dclabor.org and click on calendar for complete details.

In today’s labor history, songwriter, musician and activist Hazel Dickens died at age 75 on this date in 2011. Among her songs: “They’ll Never Keep Us Down” and “Working Girl Blues.”

Today’s labor quote is by cultural blogger John Pietaro: "Hazel Dickens didn’t just sing the anthems of labor, she lived them. Her place on many a picket line, staring down gunfire and goon squads, embedded her into the cause."

Legislation granting Fast Track trade authority to President Obama was introduced in the U.S. Senate late last week. It’s being strongly opposed by organized labor and our allies. AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka called on Congress to reject Fast Track, saying that such deals “have wide-ranging impacts and shouldn’t be negotiated behind closed doors and then rubber-stamped.” The current Trans-Pacific Partnership deal now under discussion would cover 40 percent of the world’s GDP. Trumka said that “A deal this big should be debated in a full and open manner like every other piece of legislation.” Fast Track would make it easier to ram through complicated trade deals without significant oversight from members of Congress or the public, just a simple "Yes" or "No" vote with no amendments allowed. Call your senators—855-790-8815—and tell them to say no to Fast Track. Go to dclabor.org for more details.

On today’s labor calendar, there’s a march and rally against Fast Track today that starts at 11:30a at the AFL-CIO at 16th and I and rallies up at noon at the Office of the United States Trade Representative a few blocks away. Then at 6:30 tonight catch up all the latest local labor news at the Metro Washington Council Delegate Meeting at the AFL-CIO. Go to dclabor.org and click on calendar for complete details.

In today’s Labor Quiz, thousands of workers are killed on the job in America every year and hundreds of thousands more are injured or made sick. Since OSHA was approved by Congress in 1970, how many criminal convictions has the agency secured against employers found guilty of failing to obey its health and safety rules? Is it zero, 12, 120, 1,200 or 12,000? Go to unionist.com and click on Labor Quiz and you could be next week's winner!

Here's today's labor history: in 1912, nearly 10,000 demonstrators celebrated textile workers’ win of a 10-percent pay hike and grievance committees after a one-month strike in Lowell, Massachusetts. On this date in 1914, the Ludlow Massacre took place when the Colorado state militia, using machine guns and fire, killed about 20 people—including 11 children—at a tent city set up by striking coal miners.

And in 1980, United Auto Workers members ended a successful 172-day strike against International Harvester, protesting management demands for new work rules and mandatory overtime provisions.

Today's labor quote is by Woody Guthrie, from his song “Ludlow Massacre” It was early springtime when the strike was on/They drove us miners out of doors, Out from the houses that the Company owned/We moved into tents up at old Ludlow. You struck a match and in the blaze that started/You pulled the triggers of your gatling guns, I made a run for the children but the fire wall stopped me/Thirteen children died from your guns. I never will forget the look on the faces/Of the men and women that awful day, When we stood around to preach their funerals/And lay the corpses of the dead away. Click here to hear Woody sing this song.

With last Thursday’s introduction of Fast Track authority in the US Senate, the battle against the unfair trade deal has taken on a new urgency and much of the struggle’s focus will be in the metro area, on Capitol Hill as well as on local members of Congress who are still undecided on the issue. Among the DC-area Fast Track actions, NOVA Labor will be running phonebanks all week in Annandale and there’s a Fast Track Town Hall in Bethesda on Friday; go to dclabor.org and click on calendar for complete details, which we’ll update as more info comes in.

Also on today’s labor calendar, check out the Capital Bikeshare Town Hall Meeting tonight at 6pm at the DC Public Library on 7th St NW.

In today’s labor history, New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller signed the Taylor Law on this date in 1967, permitting union organization and bargaining by public employees, but outlawing the right to strike. And in 1997, some 12,500 Goodyear Tire workers struck nine plants in what was to become a three-week walkout over job security, wage and benefit issues.

Today’s labor quote is by essayist and novelist Pico Iyer: “’Globalization' has become the great tag phrase, but when we talk about it, it's nearly always in terms of the global marketplace or communications technology - either data or goods that are whizzing around. We forget that people are whizzing around more and more. On them, it takes a toll.”

About uc radio

UC Radio airs weekdays at 7:15a on WPFW 89.3 FMYour Rights at Work airs Thursdays from 1-2pSubscribe to the Your Rights at Work podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Overcast or just click on "Subscribe" above! You can also get the Union City Radio podcast on Soundcloud.

UC Radio is a brief audio version of the award-winning Union City electronic newsletter, featuring DC-area labor news, updates, calendar and labor history with Union City Managing Editor Chris Garlock. UC Radio is a partnership between the Metro Washington Council and 89.3 FM WPFW. Today in Labor History is provided by Union Communication Services; Rockin’ Solidarity is performed by Joe Uehlein and the Bones of Contention; Union City Radio engineering by Chris Garlock.

Your Rights at Work is a call-in show about worker rights hosted by Chris Garlock, co-hosted by DCNA Executive Director Ed Smith. Produced by Peter Pocock.